California groundhog (New Pleistocene)
Notable amount of following information for the species is compiled by using information from the animaldiversity.org site. The link to the original species article is here. California groundhog (Marmota monax californii) - A subspecies of groundhog and is descended from groundhogs that migrated to California when California was connected to mainland United States. It is found on every hills and mountains of California and is one of the most common large fully-terrestrial rodents of California. It is almost identical to its ancestors. Biology and reproduction California groundhogs come in different shades of fur like their ancestors the groundhogs, also known as woodchucks. Howevery many of the coat versions have disappeared in the New Pleisotcene groundhogs having been replaced with new ones. Their paws look barer than the rest of their body but are actually covered with fine fur. C. groundhog tails is said not to be long but still appears to be since it's more thinner than the rest of the body. The C. groundhog ears can cover their auditory canals during digging, something that was presentin their ancestors too. Due to being partially sub-terranian, their chest hairs are in a different hue compared to the rest of their body to possibly blend in with the ceiling of it's burrows. Woodchucks are polygynous species which are non-social, both genders come together only for the mating season. Females also raise children alone in their own den. The den sometimes has a peculiar form, explained in the "behavior section". The C.groundhog pups become independent quickly, however, young females may inherit their mothers den. Young pups hide in the den most of the time and along with food their mother brings them harmless objects from underground so they can become familiar with them. Young male C. groundhogs are nomadic so that they can decide which is the best spot for establishing territory, but older males mostly stay in one spot, growing more protective of it, the longer they live in it. Behavior and ecology California groundhogs exploit the hilly landscape they live in and have evolved a trait that's different from typical groundhogs, they bury holes not straight into a ground but may create two or more holes (depending on mound's size) in an already existing mound, one leading up and one coming out of the side. The side holes is usually meant for escape and peaceful endeavors but the upper hole is for checking weather and predator presence. That's not all, the underground system also connects to other ground level holes or other mounds. Female and male territories often overlap and female territories grow larger once they have pups as they need to provide for them. Despite their anti-social behavior, C. woodchucks greet each other by putting nose close to other's nose, also an ancestral behavior. Due to the mountain climate, they will hibernate during winter just like they did in the past, mating shortly after awakening. Woodchucks eat mostly plant matter, mostly leaves from different mountain plants. They also eat animal matter like eggs, insects and gastropods, but are overall pickier than ancestral groundhogs. C. groundhogs are hunted by Snow jaguar (Panthera alpinii) and Mountain cougar (Puma concolor alpinus) but for the time being enjoy relative safety from not being captured by aerial predators (though they just aren't discovered yet, which makes the situation more ambigious). Lots of numerous smaller undiscovered California mountain animals use C.groundhog dens as their home. C. groundhogs spend great effort in cleaning their dens and underground passages as they associated it with diseases (due to pups starting to fall ill due to low higiene, starting somewhere before New Pleistocene). Also increased filth may lead to all kinds of parasitic infections, which continues to plague C.groundhogs as well not only their ancestors. Evolution Woodchucks (here used to refer to ancestral groundhogs) migrated to California to search for food, water and ground with more moisture. Their hillock/mound exploiting behavior originated due to them, during migrating, having to put twice as much effort finding shelter due to being somewhat tired from their more migratory way of life. As a result, an elevation made from easily diggable ground allowed them hollow said ground with less effort than it takes to part ground under their feet. Said mound hollowing may have ended in disaster during this transition since some hillocks would just collapse. Also, while woodchucks weren't very picky during their journey, they became more selective when settling in their destination of California mountains due to having more time to judge which of the new vegetation may suit them. Category:Animals Category:Mammals Category:New Pleistocene Category:California Category:Herbivores